00:30
Shivaram
An increasing number of customers are searching for a Rs. 200- Rs.500 difference on a Rs. 20,000 mobile phone and for that they are willing to move from one shop to another, one internet site to another for that " BARGAIN DEAL".
Same is the case with many electronics products, where the retailers seems to offer little or no differentiation and price seems to win at the cheapest internet site .
Let us look at this from anothe angle. Some one willing to spend Rs. 20,000 on a phone, would be reasonable to be earning about Rs. 50,000 a month ? . ( Yes, there are exceptions of workers earning 20,000 a month and buying a phone for that price )
At 20 Days a month, it averages to Rs. 2,500 per day of say 10 hours . A hourly wage of Rs. 250 per hour. Now, if you have spent an average of 4 hours from the time you went searching for that phone, to actually buying it ( touch time as it is called in manufacturing ) , excluding the cost of petrol, additional expenses on "eating out" etc, then you have actually spent Rs. 1000 of your own money . Money that probably had better uses.
Now that great "saving" that you seem to be making of Rs. 500 is actually a loss of Rs. 500 .
Next time, you are tempted to go in search of the bargain deal, look for something where even if you paid a Rs. 500 "more " ie say the MRP of the product, you will also get some service( should there be a problem ), ask him to explain the features of the product ( instead of wasting your Rs. 250 / hour) on that . Begin to think of it , as your own "outsourcing" and work on making better returns of your own time. Can you make Rs. 500 per hour using your "core competency" of say developing software or even an app for the same phone you bought ? May be you can be an app millionaire ? Who knows.
Learnings :-
Pay more, expect more and get more , rather than penny pinch ....
The problem really comes out, when you want the product serviced or you have something else you are a customer or a retailer, there seems to be too much emphasis on the price at the cost of every thing else.
Same is the case with many electronics products, where the retailers seems to offer little or no differentiation and price seems to win at the cheapest internet site .
Let us look at this from anothe angle. Some one willing to spend Rs. 20,000 on a phone, would be reasonable to be earning about Rs. 50,000 a month ? . ( Yes, there are exceptions of workers earning 20,000 a month and buying a phone for that price )
At 20 Days a month, it averages to Rs. 2,500 per day of say 10 hours . A hourly wage of Rs. 250 per hour. Now, if you have spent an average of 4 hours from the time you went searching for that phone, to actually buying it ( touch time as it is called in manufacturing ) , excluding the cost of petrol, additional expenses on "eating out" etc, then you have actually spent Rs. 1000 of your own money . Money that probably had better uses.
Now that great "saving" that you seem to be making of Rs. 500 is actually a loss of Rs. 500 .
Next time, you are tempted to go in search of the bargain deal, look for something where even if you paid a Rs. 500 "more " ie say the MRP of the product, you will also get some service( should there be a problem ), ask him to explain the features of the product ( instead of wasting your Rs. 250 / hour) on that . Begin to think of it , as your own "outsourcing" and work on making better returns of your own time. Can you make Rs. 500 per hour using your "core competency" of say developing software or even an app for the same phone you bought ? May be you can be an app millionaire ? Who knows.
Learnings :-
Pay more, expect more and get more , rather than penny pinch ....
The problem really comes out, when you want the product serviced or you have something else you are a customer or a retailer, there seems to be too much emphasis on the price at the cost of every thing else.
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